The purpose of this study is to examine the relative importance to managers of pre-tax
and after-tax earnings. Using a simple example to frame the research question, I examine
whether managers prefer to report $700 of after-tax earnings as either i) $900 of pre-tax
earnings and income tax expense of $200, or as ii) $1,000 of pre-tax earnings and tax
expense of $300. Accounting method ii) shifts a $100 reduction in pre-tax earnings down the
income statement, reporting the item instead as a tax expense. Using a confidential database,
I analyze the market price of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and find that a higher
LIHTC price is associated with investments that qualify for accounting method ii). This
result suggests that managers are willing to sacrifice after-tax earnings, by paying a higher
LIHTC price, to avoid a reduction to pre-tax earnings. On average, I estimate this behavior
has the effect of exchanging $1 of cash (i.e., after-tax earnings) for $13 of pre-tax earnings.
The contribution of this study is the finding that managers appear willing to incur
cash costs to shift a pre-tax expense down the income statement to tax expense. McVay
(2006) finds opportunistic downward shifting of core expenses to special items on the
income statement. While McVay (2006) validates classification shifting on income
statements as a valid form of earnings management, it assumes that classification shifting
bears a low cost relative to other forms of earnings management. Therefore, McVay (2006)